![between great expectations and groans
one of the 318 things that i find amusing about reading old timey newspapers is how the editors used to include unabridged transcriptions of entire speeches. each time that mark twain, for instance, gave a little monologue on his book tours, it would usually appear in the local paper the next day. so faithful were the transcriptions that non-verbal events like gestures [scratches head] and audience reactions [jeers] were recorded as well.
because of my well-documented infatuation with non-verbal language, i thought it might be a hoot to present an entire speech using only audience reactions. few speeches hold up to this treatment better than a lecture on smoking given in 1887 by thomas henry huxley (aldous’ grandpappy). be sure to stick around for the surprise twist ending that nobody, not even the wildly cheerful anti-tobacconists, could see coming.
select crowd reactions from huxely’s speech on smoking to the british assembly
[LOUD CHEERS FROM THE ANTI-TOBACCONISTS][REPEATED CHEERS][VOCIFEROUS CHEERING][MURMURS][GREAT EXPECTATIONS][GROANS][DISMAY AND CONFUSION OF THE ANTI-TOBACCONISTS][ROARS OF LAUGHTER FROM THE SMOKERS] [TOTAL ROUT OF THE ANTI-TOBACCONISTS, AND COMPLETE TRIUMPH OF THE SMOKERS]
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the included image is, of course, not actually thomas huxley. it’s actually toby jones portraying huxley in the charles darwin blockbuster that came out a few years ago. if you want to see other representations of the cartoonishly handsome biologist, you need look no further than huxley’s personal google images page.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzsx3rjTgX1qzrip0o1_1280.jpg)
between great expectations and groans
one of the 318 things that i find amusing about reading old timey newspapers is how the editors used to include unabridged transcriptions of entire speeches. each time that mark twain, for instance, gave a little monologue on his book tours, it would usually appear in the local paper the next day. so faithful were the transcriptions that non-verbal events like gestures [scratches head] and audience reactions [jeers] were recorded as well.
because of my well-documented infatuation with non-verbal language, i thought it might be a hoot to present an entire speech using only audience reactions. few speeches hold up to this treatment better than a lecture on smoking given in 1887 by thomas henry huxley (aldous’ grandpappy). be sure to stick around for the surprise twist ending that nobody, not even the wildly cheerful anti-tobacconists, could see coming.
select crowd reactions from huxely’s speech on smoking to the british assembly
[LOUD CHEERS FROM THE ANTI-TOBACCONISTS]
[REPEATED CHEERS]
[VOCIFEROUS CHEERING]
[MURMURS]
[GREAT EXPECTATIONS]
[GROANS]
[DISMAY AND CONFUSION OF THE ANTI-TOBACCONISTS]
[ROARS OF LAUGHTER FROM THE SMOKERS]
[TOTAL ROUT OF THE ANTI-TOBACCONISTS, AND COMPLETE TRIUMPH OF THE SMOKERS]
__
the included image is, of course, not actually thomas huxley. it’s actually toby jones portraying huxley in the charles darwin blockbuster that came out a few years ago. if you want to see other representations of the cartoonishly handsome biologist, you need look no further than huxley’s personal google images page.
